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OBITUARIES, VOWS, CELEBRATIONS
OBITUARIES
Eugene Shaver 1936-2019 BURLINGTON, VT.
Eugene (Gene) H. Shaver, our beloved husband, father and grandfather, left for his heavenly home on Thursday, August 1, 2019. An intelligent, humble, dog-loving gentleman and friend to all has left us. He leaves his one and only love of 59 years, Mary (Jackson) Shaver; his son, Eric, and his wife, Gail Gaetani; his daughter, Sonja Fuller, and her husband, Andy; his sisters, Gale Shaver and Elaine Brooks; four grandchildren: Sophia and Sedona Shaver and Amy and
Adam Fuller; and many other relatives and close friends. He was predeceased by his brother Allen. He was born on August 2, 1936, in Andes, N.Y., to Allen J. Shaver and Lillian Misner. He started a lifelong passion for sports, particularly baseball, at an early age that carried throughout his lifetime. After high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army with his best friend, Fred Wilson, and was assigned to the signal corp. He became an instructor in cathode ray tube theory at Fort Monmouth, N.J. After his discharge, he returned home and became reacquainted with a now-grown-up girl he used to tease as a child, Mary Jackson. Mary and Gene were married in July 1960. He started the family in San Jose, Calif., with Sonja and Eric and moved the family of four to Burlington, Vt., in 1967. Burlington has been home since and the starting place for so much of what he was proud to provide for his family. His time on the Burlington City Council was a source of pride for him, knowing he could give back and help the community
he loved. He loved to spend time on the lake and attend or coach absolutely any sport he could, and he taught himself to ski. He became a hockey player at 40. You could find him skiing, skating, playing basketball, softball, baseball, tennis, water-skiing … you name it. Later in life, he took joy in his grandchildren and taking every opportunity to teach, coach, play and tease another generation of Shavers. He enjoyed getting to know his step-grandchildren and considered them family, as well. He had a reputation for being a constant joker and loved to tease you. His hope was always that you would tease right back. Gene loved talking to friends and strangers alike and could find fun in everyone he met and everywhere he went. He found these friends at IBM, at the church, at the beach, playing sports, in the neighborhood, at the Elks Club and in his extended family everywhere. He loved to swing dance with his wife, Mary, and their dance club became a rich source for many friendships. He is missed dearly by all who knew him.
Kari Bierbaum 1967-2018 BURLINGTON, VT.
The family of Kari (Stolpestad) Bierbaum recently gathered in Islesboro, Maine, to remember her. Kari died by suicide on December 2, 2018, in Burlington, Vt. Our Kari was born on February 11, 1967, in Bryn Mawr, Pa., to Bonnie and Arthur Stolpestad (of Brunswick, Maine, and Lynn, Mass., respectively). Standing together in love and courage were her beloved husband, Bruce, and son, Gunnar “My Boy” Bierbaum (Burlington, Vt); her mother, Bonnie Stolpestad (the late Arthur Stolpestad), now of Crossroad’s Village, Portage, Mich.; brother Lars Stolpestad (Kari) and their children, Annika and Bjorn (Kalamazoo,
Mich.); sister Rev. Kerrie Harthan (Gloria Korsman) of Cambridge, Mass.; aunt Candy Dorscheid and her Donofrio family (Madison, Conn.); godmother Gunta Hirsch (the late Bruno Hirsch) of Canton, Mass.; and cousins Ginny Drew and Earl and Bonnie MacKenzie of Islesboro, Maine. Hailing from Brunswick, Maine, Kari graduated from Brunswick High School in 1985. She met Bruce at the University of Maine, Orono, graduating in 1989. They set up home in Burlington, Vt. Kari loved working in the University of Vermont’s Research Protection Office and coming home to tend to son Gunnar and his friends, as well as her vibrant garden. She was an athletic outdoorswoman and certified as a diving instructor and master gardener, perfectly reflecting her spiritual connection to nature. She was happiest when camping on Warren Island, swimming and kayaking off Leadbetter Island (both in Penobscot Bay), snowshoeing and skiing in Stowe, hiking the Green Mountains, and sailing on Lake Champlain with family, friends and Ebb, her chocolate lab, who still looks for her. Kari was an engaging woman whose sidesplitting antics grew out of compassion, mischief and wry humor.
Whether flamboyantly dancing to ABBA on a schooner bowsprit or pouring red wine on your white kitchen floor and tossing all your clothes around your house as her way of saying “Thanks for your hospitality,” she endeared herself to you. You knew that she cared. Blessed with empathy and appreciation for the shenanigans of youth, she relished opening her home to her cherished neighborhood family, especially the young people now in college. She wanted you to feel at home, understood, content. Kari was kind. If desired, a tribute to Kari can be made to the Vermont Suicide Prevention Center. She struggled with depression and anxiety, intensely, these last two years. Our family is committed to bringing heartfelt awareness, research and effective public health policy to bear on this widespread, treatable disease. We thank the St. Lawrence University football team, staff and faculty for their superb, loving support of Gunnar. We thank the Cremation Society of Chittenden County, a division of Ready Funeral Services in Burlington, Vt., for its compassionate aid, including a perpetual web portal through which you can reach us and VSPC: cremationsocietycc.com.
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